Autumn Internationals 2016

Following the excitement of the Rugby World Cup a year earlier, the Autumn International rugby matches returned in 2016 – and they were notable for a number of reasons:

Ireland won a historic 40-29 victory over New Zealand in Chicago. It was Ireland's first ever victory over the All Blacks in 111 years of asking.

Italy created their own piece of history in Florence by beating South Africa for the first time.

Ireland's 27-24 victory over Australia meant that they became the first northern hemisphere team since 2003 to beat the southern hemisphere's big three in the same calendar year.

South Africa endured a winless autumn series to compound an already bad year in which they lost eight matches for the first time.

England won all four autumn internationals to end the calendar year unbeaten with 13 wins.

Among the matches contested only by Tier 1 rugby nations (i.e. Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams), there were nine matches won by northern hemisphere teams and six matches won by southern hemisphere teams.

Fans of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales can look forward to another cracking year of rugby next year – with the Six Nations, followed by a Lions Tour of New Zealand, plus another Autumn International series all to come in 2017!

Autumn Internationals 2016 Fixtures

Click on the links below to view further details about each match. *All kick-off times in GMT.